Thursday, July 12, 2012
Home!
After being gone for 9 months becoming a Marine, Heath's finally home. It's been a long time and I'm damn proud of all that he's accomplished. Now, to make up for lost time :-)
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Another Year Older
Had a rather laid back birthday dinner tonight with my in-laws. We made some chicken kabobs on the grill, had a little cake, and then I came home to the dogs. That's just the way I like it. I've always loved being born on the 3rd of July, it about guarantees good food, fireworks, and festival or two and I can normally get away with a quick verse of "Happy Birthday to You" at whatever family function's being held and slip the lime light of an actual b-day party.
This year, I couldn't care less about being another year older. However, I am getting the best present ever in about eight days, Heath's finally coming home! His MOS school's wrapping up & he should be on a plane next Wednesday, yay! At this point, I can't even think straight, it's going to be so nice to have him back! So, Huzzah for another trip around the sun & God, do you think you could just hurry this week up a little, please?
This year, I couldn't care less about being another year older. However, I am getting the best present ever in about eight days, Heath's finally coming home! His MOS school's wrapping up & he should be on a plane next Wednesday, yay! At this point, I can't even think straight, it's going to be so nice to have him back! So, Huzzah for another trip around the sun & God, do you think you could just hurry this week up a little, please?
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Yelling at the Radio
Yep, that's what I was doing this morning. Normally my drive to work's too short to bother paying attention to the radio personalities but I got hooked this morning on a call-in portion about the Obama-care decision by the SCOTUS. Now, my wookie suit is fine and glossy, but it takes a bit to make me rattle the bowcaster. However, when the twit calling in said that everything would be fixed by voting for Romney, I *might* have scared surrounding traffic with my vocal frustrations. No, no, no!
Becoming President isn't a carte blanche. The President can't make or repeal laws so changing who's in the the big white house with fancy furnishings isn't going to get the ball rolling. So why are you focused on the President, look at Congress! They served up this fetid mess of spew, so they, or their successors, are the ones that have to undo it. It's their elections you should be concerned about and putting your effort into. Obama and Romney are a shit covered coin toss, no matter which side lands up, your money's still covered in shit. It's the Senators and Reps. that could make a difference - from local up to national. Look at who's *making* the laws & vote for better representation.
*sigh* it's going to be a long year.
Becoming President isn't a carte blanche. The President can't make or repeal laws so changing who's in the the big white house with fancy furnishings isn't going to get the ball rolling. So why are you focused on the President, look at Congress! They served up this fetid mess of spew, so they, or their successors, are the ones that have to undo it. It's their elections you should be concerned about and putting your effort into. Obama and Romney are a shit covered coin toss, no matter which side lands up, your money's still covered in shit. It's the Senators and Reps. that could make a difference - from local up to national. Look at who's *making* the laws & vote for better representation.
*sigh* it's going to be a long year.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Early Morning Promise
I will never ignore Faust's whining at night again. If he's waking me up he needs out. I really didn't need the experience of cleaning diarrhea out of my carpet at 2am until I have kids (never would have been just peachy with me, too). What did that dog eat?!
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Missed My Birthday
Just realized my blog passed the one year mark about a week ago. To celebrate, here's a video of Star Wars: A New Hope being read by an amazing cast of voice actors at the Seattle Comicon. It's worth the hour to watch it all (at least go to 21:46 and listen to R2D2 as read by 'Ozzy Osbourne')!
Monday, May 21, 2012
Peeping Tom
This little guy was hanging about my window for 10 - 15 minutes yesterday.
Didn't even mind when I took the screen out to get a better shot. He eventually flew off (after a few failed launches towards the glass)
Didn't even mind when I took the screen out to get a better shot. He eventually flew off (after a few failed launches towards the glass)
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
In Which I Enter My First Gun Debate...
Alright, so this post from Bob Owen (H/T to Uncle for the link) made me want to put in my two cent on novice, women shooters & their first guns.
IMHO, A beginner shouldn't be tied to one gun until they've had the chance to borrow / rent an assortment to find out what feels right. Sadly, there is no Sorting Hat to make purchasing a gun more like fate than trial & error. As a new shooter, buying multiple guns may not be fiscally prudent and when combined with the possible training and licensing costs, it may be impossible. Which is why I agree with Bob that, as an only gun, a snubbie revolver is a poor choice. It only fulfills one aspect of self defense (CCW) and doesn't encourage practice (no fun for a newbie to try and make cans dance with an airweight - trust me). The problems he outlined: heavy recoil, muzzle flash, poor sighting, etc would diminish or extinguish the enthusiasm to practice and to carry if that is the only weapon they have to work with. It'd be like learning to bowl with a 14 lb ball. It's hard to control, awkward, and by the end of a few frames your arm's sore and the pins are mocking you from the end of the lane. Afterwards, you wonder why the hell anyone found it fun to begin with.
However, when there is access to multiple firearms, I see an airweight as a natural choice for a beginner carry piece. They're light, easy to conceal, there's little excuse to leave it at home, and little chance of it not going 'bang' when needed. It does absolutely no good to have a nice, easy to shoot gun in the safe because you wonder where the hell you're going to hide it. As a woman & a relatively new shooter, I'd like to say that finding CCW friendly clothing that make you feel pretty (surprisingly important feature) and still allow you to carry a larger pistol or revolver is a PITA. For a new female shooter, it's just about mind boggling. The snubbie allows for purse carry (I know, not ideal - still better than nothing) and allows a woman to get used to carrying in different locations. From there, it's easier to move up to a more substantial gun and begin playing with CCW styles, holsters, etc. If they can't get over the initial "how do I conceal this," then the whole CCW thing is academic.
As a final thought, a new shooter shouldn't purchase a gun with the frame of mind that it will be the only gun they'll ever own or that it must serve all purposes. The phrase, "two is one and one is none" applies here; relying on one gun to perform all desired duties is impractical. I believe it's easier to find a near perfect grouping of guns than the 'perfect' gun. Case in point, I would never choose my airweight for my bedside defense, I have a nice, heavy revolver for that - which I'm not inclined to carry - and the bedside revolver is a secondary choice to the 870 shotgun for "bump in the night inspection" (for which the airweight is a meager, tertiary choice). They all serve a purpose and together make for a solid defense. The key point is to make self defense second nature as quickly as possible. If carrying an airweight accomplishes that, who's to say it's wrong?
*Note, I find semi-autos to be a fine choice for CCW (beginner or not) but the theme was snubbies / airweights and the post was long enough.
IMHO, A beginner shouldn't be tied to one gun until they've had the chance to borrow / rent an assortment to find out what feels right. Sadly, there is no Sorting Hat to make purchasing a gun more like fate than trial & error. As a new shooter, buying multiple guns may not be fiscally prudent and when combined with the possible training and licensing costs, it may be impossible. Which is why I agree with Bob that, as an only gun, a snubbie revolver is a poor choice. It only fulfills one aspect of self defense (CCW) and doesn't encourage practice (no fun for a newbie to try and make cans dance with an airweight - trust me). The problems he outlined: heavy recoil, muzzle flash, poor sighting, etc would diminish or extinguish the enthusiasm to practice and to carry if that is the only weapon they have to work with. It'd be like learning to bowl with a 14 lb ball. It's hard to control, awkward, and by the end of a few frames your arm's sore and the pins are mocking you from the end of the lane. Afterwards, you wonder why the hell anyone found it fun to begin with.
However, when there is access to multiple firearms, I see an airweight as a natural choice for a beginner carry piece. They're light, easy to conceal, there's little excuse to leave it at home, and little chance of it not going 'bang' when needed. It does absolutely no good to have a nice, easy to shoot gun in the safe because you wonder where the hell you're going to hide it. As a woman & a relatively new shooter, I'd like to say that finding CCW friendly clothing that make you feel pretty (surprisingly important feature) and still allow you to carry a larger pistol or revolver is a PITA. For a new female shooter, it's just about mind boggling. The snubbie allows for purse carry (I know, not ideal - still better than nothing) and allows a woman to get used to carrying in different locations. From there, it's easier to move up to a more substantial gun and begin playing with CCW styles, holsters, etc. If they can't get over the initial "how do I conceal this," then the whole CCW thing is academic.
As a final thought, a new shooter shouldn't purchase a gun with the frame of mind that it will be the only gun they'll ever own or that it must serve all purposes. The phrase, "two is one and one is none" applies here; relying on one gun to perform all desired duties is impractical. I believe it's easier to find a near perfect grouping of guns than the 'perfect' gun. Case in point, I would never choose my airweight for my bedside defense, I have a nice, heavy revolver for that - which I'm not inclined to carry - and the bedside revolver is a secondary choice to the 870 shotgun for "bump in the night inspection" (for which the airweight is a meager, tertiary choice). They all serve a purpose and together make for a solid defense. The key point is to make self defense second nature as quickly as possible. If carrying an airweight accomplishes that, who's to say it's wrong?
*Note, I find semi-autos to be a fine choice for CCW (beginner or not) but the theme was snubbies / airweights and the post was long enough.
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